Israeli Minister Admits Hamas Fired NO Rockets During Ceasefire!

Ceasefire shows Israel's defeat in Gaza: Iran official

Indo-Asian News Service

Tehran, January 19, 2009

First Published: 06:32 IST(19/1/2009)

Last Updated: 06:33 IST(19/1/2009)

A senior official at Iran's presidential office on Sunday said that the unilateral ceasefire announced by Israel in Gaza was an admission of defeat, IRNA reported.

Ali-Reza Zaker Isfahani, chairman of the Strategic Studies, said Israel's unilateral ceasefire indicated its absolute defeat.

"This (unilateral truce) shows the Zionist (Israel's) regime is no longer capable of pursuing its vicious goals in the besieged area," the official said.

He said the objective behind Tel Aviv's atrocities in Gaza was "to destroy a generation and help another survive".

"Israel would never be proud of its war on Gaza as Palestinian resistance would someday annihilate the Zionist regime's false glory," he added.

He also criticised Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan for their silence over Israeli atrocities in Gaza. "The three Arab states have indeed supported the oppressor," he said.

Israel late Saturday announced a unilateral ceasefire to end its 22-day war against Hamas-led militant groups in Gaza. More than 1,000 people have been killed and over 5,000 others injured, mostly women and children, since the Israeli operation began on December 27.

source

Israelis Fake More Rockets From Lebanon

{note the photo below shows an Israeli Missile Attack, NOT a Hezbollah rocket attack-Brandon}

UN chief Ban Ki-moon visits Middle East as rockets from Lebanon hit Israel

Three rockets from Lebanon have landed on northern Israel, in an attack that could signal a second front in Israel's 19-day offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Last Updated: 8:50AM GMT 14 Jan 2009

The continued violence comes as divisions between Israel's senior politicians have been exposed as Benjamin Netanyahu, the opposition leader, said Hamas should be 'removed' from the Gaza Strip Photo: AP

An Israeli soldier looks out from atop an armoured personnel carrier near the border with the northern Gaza Strip Photo: REUTERS

Police said the rockets landed in open areas and there were no reports of damage or injuries. People in northern Israel were asked to head to bomb shelters. Israel responded with artillery fire into south Lebanon, witnesses said.

Security sources in Lebanon said five rockets were fired but two fell short of the Israeli border.

The attacks come as UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon travelled to the Middle East on a tour aimed at pressuring Israel and Hamas into a lasting ceasefire.

Mr Ban is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as part of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, which has killed almost 1,000 people.

He will then visit Israel and the West Bank as well as other regional powers.

But the UN chief is not scheduled to meet representatives of Hamas - which controls the Gaza Strip - and it is not clear whether he will go to Gaza itself during his week-long trip, the BBC reports.

Four rockets were fired on northern Israel last Thursday. Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group denied responsibility and speculation focused on small Palestinian groups in Lebanon.

Israeli officials have expressed concern that militants in Lebanon could try to open a second front in the Gaza campaign in solidarity with Hamas.

Police said the latest rockets hit near the near the northern town of Kiryat Shemona.

source

Israelis Forced To Retreat From Gaza City

Israel troops retreat from Gaza district

Press TV
Saturday, Jan 11, 2008

Israeli forces have retreated from Tal al-Halwa neighborhood south of Gaza Strip after attacks which killed at least 12 Palestinians.

The bodies of at least 12 Palestinians were found in the rubble of houses in al-Khazaa and Tal al-Halwa districts south of Gaza, which brought Sunday’s death toll from Israel’s attacks to 26 Palestinians.

Israeli troops were forced to pull back from the neighborhoods after meeting a fierce resistance from Palestinian fighters and facing a lot of mortar attacks and roadside bombs planted on their way.

Israeli aircraft also targeted residential areas near the Palestine Mosque in Gaza. No casualties is reported yet.

At least 880 Palestinians have been killed and 3,690 wounded since Israel began its attacks on Gaza Strip on December 27. Half of those killed are women and children.

An Israeli investigation claimed on Sunday that it had ‘mistakenly’ targeted a UN-run school in Gaza on Jan. 6 attack, in which dozens of civilians were killed.

The Israeli attacks have sparked widespread protests across the world. On Sunday, angry protestors in al-Quds in the West Bank threw burning bottles on Israel’s security forces.

source

Israel Retracts Bullshit About Militants at UN School

First Published 2009-01-09


Gunness: Israeli ‘allegations are baseless’

Israel retracts claim of militant fire at UN school

UN calls for independent investigation into Israel’s bombing of school as possible war crime.

PACIFICA – UN spokesperson Chris Gunness said Israeli officials have privately retracted their widely cited initial claim that Hamas militants were firing from a UN school sheltering Gaza civilians in Jabalya, Democracy Now! reported Thursday.

Another four Palestinians died Wednesday from injuries sustained in the Israeli bombing of the school, bringing the death toll to forty-six. Another fifty-five were wounded.

“I’ve been authorized to say that the Israeli army, in private briefings with diplomats, is admitting that the firing that came out of Jabalya yesterday, the militant fire, was not from within the UNRWA school compound, it was from outside the UNRWA school compound. This is a crucial distinction,” said Gunness, UNRWA spokesperson.

“Those allegations are baseless. It, as far as we’re concerned, illustrates the need for a full and independent investigation. It’s been shown that these allegations … are completely baseless," added Gunness.

The UN is calling for an independent investigation into the school bombing as a possible war crime.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a rare condemnation of the Israeli government for blocking it from the site of a deadly bombing of Palestinian civilians.

The Red Cross says Israel barred aid workers for four days from reaching victims in the neighborhood of Zeitoun. Israeli soldiers reportedly tried to chase the rescue workers away.

When they finally arrived, the workers found fifteen bodies, along with several children still barely alive. The children were lying next to their dead mothers.

In a statement, the Red Cross said the Israeli military has “failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded,” calling the episode “unacceptable.”

Other sources have reported a higher death toll in the Zeitoun attack. The Daily Telegraph of London reports the bombing could have killed between sixty to seventy members of the same family.

source